My Quiet Observations

It was another early morning to office, but this morning, I took a longer route, and only because I wanted to drive past several recent sales which had me curious as to who purchased them, so as I was driving by, I took down the addresses, and when I got to office I looked them up. Well, it looks like our contractors are making so much money since the pandemic, one of those homes was purchased by a plumbing outfit, and the other by the owner of a roofing company. I'm sure with price hikes since the pandemic arrived, they found they had extra cash to re-invest after buying their tricked-out pickup trucks which were small fortunes. Yes, I've recently been hearing some horror stories regarding the price-gouging that's been directed at our elderly, which I find even more despicable. They're all going to get old some day, and likely have a double kick-back from all those they taken financial advantage of. Shame on all of them!

Once I had all my emails and calls returned, I decided to be proactive with my mowing jobs, so I changed into my work clothes and headed out to get everything taken care of before the weekend arrived, and glad I did because by the time I finished up on the last one, I was soaking wet, but at least it was done before the mid-afternoon sun sent our temperatures higher. You can be sure I thank the day I ordered that wide hat with its netting, because the gnats were out in full force. It took me longer than normal, and only because I would stop and pull weeds my mower couldn't reach, so at least they're looking all the more manicured. Believe it or not, I happened to find a twenty dollar bill lying in the grass near a public sidewalk, so I guess today was my lucky day.

Speaking of manicure, I paid special attention today of all the scruffy looking yards, the garbage bags, and the near complete signs of neglect a very many of our homeowners and tenants are placing on exhibit for all to see. Truth be told, I've never in my life seen such disregard being shown by the way in which the hundreds of homes around our city are appearing. What's the most shocking, is knowing many of them were recently sold since the pandemic arrived, and for sure not appearing anywhere like they did while they were listed. I can only imagine what the interiors of those homes look like.

Our so-called 'enlightened' city fathers, had better get a grip on reality and finally realize we're not living in Ankeny or Clive, because it's looking more like red-neck city where anything goes. If they'd focus their intensity away from building-out that silly 'ghost hotel' and dead mall, and pay more attention to the real needs of our city, then maybe we would be able to attract more commercial and industrial developers who'd decide to plant their roots. The great 'divide' that's very much real in Mason City, are the elites who 'think' they know what's best for the general population, and the remainder have become so sick of the business as usual, they simply grown indifferent to it all.

One of my dear friends mentioned that I should spend more time educating our residents to the real failings around us, so perhaps they'd become more vocal themselves and start spreading the word, and in the end, we'd be able to give our City Hall and Council, a good cleaning-out, just so we'd all have a fresh start. Based on my quiet observations over these past seven years, I've come to the conclusion there's been some corruption taking place in River City, which as always, will in the end be fully revealed. Unfortunately, I had to remind someone today that I do have the memory of an elephant, which is a double-edged sword because as much as I'd like to forget about certain happenings most have forgotten, I just can't.

Just as I was finishing up on my mowing, a contractor called and asked if I would let him in a home to get some repairs made, so I grabbed a quick lunch snack and headed over, and since the owner didn't want anyone in the home without me being there, I grabbed several of her magazines and gave them a good read until he was finished. Those two hours went flying by, and only because there were a number of good articles that had me fully focused. As I was driving back to office, I figured my paying it forward took place in those two hours.

I received a call from one of my old clients asking if I had time tomorrow to show them several homes which I agreed to do, but when I called the listing agents, I was informed by both of them that they were under contract, so I had to call them back to break the bad news. I know I've mentioned it many times, but again I have to say this market is the craziest I seen in all these years, and just remember, I've been doing this since before the trees arrived. My fears of a hard-landing have once again been renewed.

One of my friends out east called while I was out, so I returned her call and had a soulful conversation with her. Unfortunately she's been having additional problems with her middle-aged and older siblings, which resurrected memories of situations I was in, not very long ago, so I did everything I could to encourage her to stay on the positive side of it all, and only because it too will pass. We so often fall into that ditch where we believe we're getting hit harder, but today's chat was my reminder that there are those who have a 'yell' of a lot more to deal with on a daily basis. I did remind her that it's OK to be indifferent towards blood relatives, and only because when people turn a certain age, there's no changing them, and only because too many years have passed and they've grown too old to learn anything new.

Since she and I have a love of gardening, I discovered her peppers are to the point of having fresh ones to pick, where mine are barely starting to bloom, but at least my cucumbers are weeks ahead of hers to where I'm now picking fresh. Since I had to cut her short this afternoon, I promised to give her a jingle this weekend.

Tonight's One-liner is: I could do terrible things to people who dump unwanted animals by the roadside.

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